Mad Ax

Good idea MP, hope you find some good locations. We can put the date back a week if you can't make the 7th []

Mud Blaster / Brat - front grill-to-body mounting lugs always snap off in a head-on crash; rear screen pushes through rear bed when rolling. King Cab - rear hex drives / splined driveshafts wear quickly

Classic customising isn't such a big thing in the UK, although people still do it. By far the biggest custom scene is the Volkswagen Beetle, followed by the original Mini. I've owned 2 customised Minis over the years, loved them to bits but didn't love the rust when they've been out in the British weather [] Classic Fords are popular here - particularly the classic european rally cars like the MkI and MkII Escorts, Lotus Cortinas, Capri RS3100... But other old Fords are popular too. I once had a Capri 2.8i, which was going to be customised, but unfortunately it was scrapped when the rust turned out to be far worse than I thought. I also had a Ford Popular pickup chop with a Fiat twin-cam motor, but that never got running either [] I would have another Capri tomorrow if one turned up at the right price...

OK then you Wiltshire / Southwest peeps - how does SATURDAY 7th OCTOBER sound? That is just under 2 weeks from today, and is early October, as suggested. (I'm actually happy to do Sat 30th Sept, but gives us less than a week to get everyone ogranized). Who knows a location in the New Forrest (or any other Wilts/Southwest destination) that we can all get to? Who will be bringing what? My running collection on the day will be: Dark Impact Blackfoot Extreme Midnight Pumpkin Possibly Bear Hawk, depending on what I do with it in the mean time... Possibly Kyosho Sand Master (nitro) if it's a nitro-friendly area AND if I can get the motor running and I'll probably bring my TT01 just in case we find some tarmac to play on [] []

Rated this a 5 - superb topic, informative pictures and excellent work [] As we say in the ghettoes, "U da man innit bruv"

that's right - if something works, why not use it? [] The old money gremlins are threatening to scupper my crawler-building plans as well as my hi-lift plans, so who knows when this will get going? Oh well, we'll have to see what happens... Now is a good time to finish all those little projects I've got lying around, instead of starting new ones []

Welcome aboard, Hammers [] The numbers (TT, TA etc) refer to the chassis type. TT01 (which is probably what your car is) is a 4x4 touring car chassis designed for general fun driving on tarmac and smooth surfaces. A TA chassis is geared more towards smooth-surface racing. I would actually love someone to compile a complete list of all the chassis numbers and descriptions so that I can browse at my leisure [] Most parts are generally quite resistant to water but don't submerge anything without checking it first. Running in the rain should be fine - motors, servos and electronics will resist spashed raindrops without any problems. If you have an MSC (manual speed controller - big dial-type thing that controls the speed) it should be OK underwater, just make sure you give it a wipe and re-oil afterwards so it doesn't corrode. You can get completely waterproof servos, ESCs and receivers if you want to totally submerge your car - like some of the TC members do with their off-road trucks []

Do you have household insurance? If so, it's probably already covered in event of fire, theft or damage. Your household insurance normally covers any single "regular" item up to a certain value, and any collection "valuables" (such as antiques, artwork or expensive photography equipment, for example) up to a certain value. Your RC kit consists of many single items - so will be covered. I'm not sure if your household insurance will cover you for the house move, tho - you'd need to check your documentation and/or moving company to see if they have insurance while your stuff is in transit. FWIW my basic household insurance on a 4-bed terrace is £16 per month, that covers any individual item up to about £10,000 - so unless you've got an NIB model 00001 with a serial number of 00001, I doubt you'll need any more than basic cover []

Get us a photo of the complete model and of the chassis []

Link no workee for me []

Still up for early October [] I got a Blackfoot Extreme runner this weekend too, so will be sorted for some off-road action []

Shroom, where do you go in Somerset? Do you know Stockhill (Priddy?) That's where I usually run my Dark Impact. You know any other good quiet areas in Somerset where I can play without being disturbed..?

y'know... I didn't think of that? Of course the chassis is the same!! Good idea! The blitzer shell would fit straight-up with just the N-parts... And of course some changes to get some decent wheels on there [] Ok - body conversion first, then I'll worry about wheels & tyres...

Will do Gaz - there's another local guy who uses the grounds of a concrete factory for off-road buggies, although I've never been there myself. I'll try to find out where that is - the only place I know is good late in the evening when the tourists have gone home, but during the day it's very busy - it's in the middle of a nature reserve - so no nitro!

Hey OldBoyHotstuff, they look good! What's the front wheel used on the orange one? I guess that wheel takes two standard 1150 bearings..? I measured up the Bearhawk this morning - it's a tiny bit longer than the Hopper, and marginally wider - but it will look OK with the right shell. I'll need to find some good-looking hex-drive rear wheels for it, obviously... Anybody know a wide rear that accepts an off-road or scale tyre and matches the wheel on the orange beetle? ISTR one of the CC wheels looks a little like that, but can't remember what it's from... Also, any links and/or pics of good readily-available beetle shells? TIA! []

Wierd question I've always fancied a beetle buggy, but can't afford a Scorcher and want something I can run hard without having to worry about expensive crash damage. I've got a runner Bearhawk chassis with a damaged shell, which is similar in size to my scrap Grasshopper (just a bit wider, maybe), and would make an excellent donor chassis for a beetle project. Is the grasshopper wheelbase similar to the Scorcher, or would it look totally daft under a beetle shell..? If I use the Bearhawk, I'll also need to locate some good scale-looking wheels that will accept hexes on the rear and 1150 bearings up front... Suggestions requested please [] Ax

that's cool - was the sort of thing I was looking for, although probably with a Blackfoot shell or something like that... Plenty of shells to choose from these days []

Depends what I'm running. For buggies / off-road, I usually go to Stockhill car park in Priddy. It's quiet in the evenings, massive gravel car park with lots of dirt ramps, little narrow dirt paths, banks, ditches and hedges to mess around in. If you walk along the public footpaths there are some lovely little alpine gardens which would probably be excellent for mud-crawling - although I doubt the local wildlife people would like it much... For tarmac, I go to a local trading estate in Westfield. Haven't had any problems or complaints so far using private car parks (just me alone). I intend to pop along to the Swindon RC club sometime to see about a bit of light-hearted racing []

I find Lexan shells to be much better at resisting road-rash and light knocks than solid plastic shells, as they have in-built flex and of course, the paint is on the inside so it doesn't get scratched off [] I built my Chrome Pumpkin (same chassis as your lunchbox) but fitted a Parma lexan shell straight away - rolled it several times, but the shell is still fine. The Chrome shell is reserved for another project []

No, honey - the drive-on ferry is at the next dock.

Keep us updated - I'm from Bath, but don't mind sneaking down to the Newforest for a day in October [] Will probably bring: Pumpkin for messing about Dark Impact for off-road racing Bearhawk for bashing Don't have any proper off-road trucks at the mo, and can't afford to buy anything unless it turns up cheap in Traderoom []

This has been on my mind for a few weeks, and TBH is probably more of a "dream" at the moment since I can't really afford to get started for a good few months... But... Having watched a few scale/crawler videos, I've decided I want to build something. I don't really want an all-out climber with hideously wide axles underneath a 1/10 body - otherwise I'd just go buy a clod or a TXT. On the other hand, I don't want a perfect scale replica if it can't handle crawling over rocks. Something that looks like a pretty hefty road-truck with a jack-up and big wheels, rather than a monster truck. I also want to be doing a lot of custom-designing - modifying the chassis with my own parts to improve articulation, CoG, shock mounts etc... Originally I was going to get a standard Hi-Lift and see how I got on, but financial problems mean an NIB hi-lift might be out of the question. I also worried that the hi-lift chassis might be too rigid for proper rock crawling, without some major chopping and changing. We're also not sure how well the axles and gearbox will hold up. How would a TLT fit this equation? I thought of buying a stock TLT in a month or two, building it up standard and seeing how well it handles, before fabricating a longer chassis and mounting a 1/10 hard body over 1.9 crawler tyres, repositioned battery, possibly a stronger tranny and any other mods that look relevant. So I thought I'd throw this into the masses before I waste my moolah on something that isn't going to work... []

Ebay is the starting point - if you've got the original handbook, it will have the part-number listed next to it. Then do a product/description search - although as it's not a current model, you might not get a lot of results. Alternatively, buy a few screw bags for a current model (always loads on Ebay) and just pick out the screws you need. All Tamiyas tend to use pretty standard screw sizes; if in doubt, flick through the on-line manuals linked from the Tamiyaclub homepage and see what screws are available in what bags. For painting a lexan (clear) shell - you MUST use proper lexan (polycarbonate) paint - Tamiya PS paint codes, or other brands. Paints not designed for lexan will crack and flake off as the shell flexes, as they aren't designed with the flex in mind. There are lots of paint guides on TC if you hunt around [] Good luck with the lunchbox- always wanted one as a kid, never got one...

Thus far I have remained largely uninjured by RC, although I can't imagine it will last long... I've trodden on a few screws / plastic trees that I've dropped or left lying around, but never punctured the thick leathery skin on my hobbit feet. It won't be long before I set a 6-cell on fire and burn my clothes off tho, I expect...

If you're into classic rallying, try "Rally Trophy" on the PC. I've not gotten into any of the recent rally games but I love classic cars, and couldn't resist Rally Trophy when I saw it in the shops a few years back. However, I tried it a few times, got annoyed, and never played it again - until a few weeks ago. It isn't like your typical arcade rally simulator - it's a dedicated driving game. Each of the cars has a very different feel - FWD cars take a totally different driving style to RWD cars. After a bit of practice in one car, you'll get the hang of it - and then the game will really open up. When you've completed Beginner level, you get a new level with a whole new load of cars (as well as a special version of the car you just won the championship in) to try in Intermediate. And better still - the tracks in Intermediate are longer and tougher too. The cars and tracks in Expert are astounding - however, my steering wheel broke over a year ago and I've not replaced it; Beginner and Intermediate were OK on keyboard, but the Expert cars are so powerful that I can't do anything but spin out using a keyboard. If I want to complete it, I'll have to invest [] Cars are all classics, like Mini Cooper, Lotus Cortina, Renault Alpine A110, Lancia Stratos, Ford Escort RS2000, Alfa-Romeo Giulia...